AI Tool Slashes ATC Workload, Boosts Safety

UFA, Inc. has just launched ATTranscribe, a software product that reduces licensed controllers’ workloads while increasing safety.

Currently, air traffic operators and safety organizations devote significant time to reviewing safety incidents, including transcription of communication between air traffic control and pilots. Because audio from ATC communications is notoriously difficult to understand – dense, fast-paced, and packed with specialized phraseology, yet often masked by cockpit and VHF noise – skilled controllers must expend substantial effort to produce transcripts, taking time away from their core duty of managing live traffic.

ATTranscribe, which was purpose-built and trained using machine learning on ATC communications, can support controllers by producing initial transcription, analysis, and reports with fully secure data.  ATTranscribe provides more than 60% reduction in transcription work hours while delivering greater than 90% accuracy across 3000 hours of recorded ATC audio.

"We believe ATTranscribe will completely transform the workflow of incident review," said David Wolff, CEO of UFA. "By translating raw ATC communications into structured, analyzable data, we are saving the time of skilled workers while helping safety teams extract valuable insights faster and more accurately than ever before."

Beyond saving controller time, Wolff noted, the new technology can also help controllers to identify trends and warning signs of systemic issues through automated analysis of large historical archives.  With time-synced playback and searchable data, investigators can replay ATC communications alongside transcriptions, filter by keywords, and extract relevant segments for reports.

"ATTranscribe has the potential to reshape how we investigate and learn from air traffic communications," said Lawrence Pennett, President of UFA. "By enabling rapid transcription and automated analysis of recorded or live communications, we can accelerate safety improvements across the industry."

The new technology can be applied to incident investigation, regulatory compliance, and training debriefs, Pennett added. In addition, the tool exports the finalized transcript into the end-user's required format, saving valuable time for safety investigators and compliance teams. Pennett also noted that the tool can be customized with facility-specific terminology, additional languages, and integrations via standardized APIs.